'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' author Rebecca Skloot comes to Oakton

Posted February 28, 2014 10:00 pm

Submitted by Oakton Community College

Rebecca Skloot, author of the number one New York Times best-seller "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," will highlight Oakton's celebration of Women's History Month with a lecture, question and answer session, and book signing on Wednesday, March 5, at the college's Des Plaines campus, 1600 E. Golf Road. The free program starts at 7 p.m.

Skloot's book, winner of the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Public Library Foundation's 21st Century Award, traces the story of a working class black woman's cells - taken from a cancerous tumor without her knowledge in 1951 - and how they became the HeLa cell line, one of the most important tools in modern medicine.

The Immortal Life was selected as the best book of 2010 by more than 60 media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly; USA Today; O, The Oprah Magazine; Los Angeles Times; National Public Radio; People; The New York Times; and U.S. News and World Report. The Chicago Sun-Times describes Skloot's first book as "riveting ... a tour-de-force debut."

For information, call (847) 376-7061. A full schedule of activities marking Women's History Month is available at www.okaton.edu/whm.

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